h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

30 years ago in Ethiopia the local police were often unpaid. So at the end of the month they tried to catch as many traffic violators as possible. Most of the Stop signs at junctions were either hidden by greenery or twenty yards back from the junction, or both. Unless you stopped both at the sign and at the junction a cop would magically appear out of the bushes and charge you with failing to stop. A friend who had stopped at the sign failed to stop at the road. The policeman threw himself onto the car's bonnet (hood) and was carried along a few yards. The driver was charged with kidnapping a police officer.
In those days it was also possible to bargain down an on-the-spot fine..